Universal gripper finger mechanism



Feb. 25, 1964 w. H. KAGLEY 3,122,234

UNIVERSAL GRIPPER FINGER MECHANISM Filed June 8, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Feb. 25, 1964 w. H. KAGLEY UNIVERSAL GRIPPER FINGER MECHANISM Filed June 8, 1962 INVENTOR. WAL/,QM Heeese KnGLEy rraeA/Eys.

Feb. 25, 1964 w. H. KAGLEY UNIVERSAL "GRIPPER FINGER MECHANISM Filed June 8, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. MIJ/7M f1-255er KAG/.EY

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Feb; 25, 1964 w. H. KAGLEY 3,122,234

` UNIVERSAL. GRIPPER FINGER MECHANISM Filed June 8, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Pi/Gaz 6+ l Q INVENTOR.

75/.\ P78 75 A BY r rra/@vEya United States Patent 3,l22,234 ElNi-ltfills GRPPER FNGER MECHANSM William H. Kagiey, Dinnea, Calif., assigner to Lindsay Ripe @live Company, Lindsay, Calif., a corporation ot' California Filed .lune 3, i962, Ser. N 291,669 S Claims. (ill. 198-167) This invention relates to machines for pitting fruit and has especial utility in connection with the pitting of olives. lt constitutes an improvement in a subcombination of a machine of the character shown and described in United States Patent No. 2,246,843, granted June 24, 1941, on an application of Edward P. Drake. A further embodiment of such a machine known to the art is shown in Patent No. 2,341,857, granted February 15, 1944, on an application of Drake, Alberty and Kagley (the Kaley being the same person as the applicant in the present case). Those earlier patents illustrated the use of gripper fingers mounted on a rotating drum and cooperating with spacer fingers mounted on a traveling chain to position and grip individual olives for presentation to a punch and die mechanism.

An imrroved means for adjustably mounting such gripper fingers is shown in the more recent United States Patent No. 2,826,291, granted March 11, 1958, on an application of Kagley and Milam (being the same Kagley as the applicant herein).

A major problem encountered in the use of the gripper fingers shown in the prior patents referred to and in other patents of which I have knowledge has been the necessity in the earlier non-adjustable finger assemblies for changing the entire series of gripper fingers when shifting from the pitting of one size olives to another size of any major difference. In other words, the range of olive diameter which could be handled by any one of the gripper finger assemblies was exceedingly narrow.

This problem was overcome measurably by the gripper finger mounting means disclosed in Patent No. 2,826,- 291 which provided for two types of adjustment of the individual gripper fingers: First, they could be effectively shortened or lengthened by the expedient of loosening a stud and sliding the finger one way or the other through a mounting slot and then tightening the stud. Second, by loosening a set screw or set screws the rotational position of the finger with relation to the rocxer pin on which it was mounted could be changed one way or the other and the set screw or screws tightened to hold the setting. These adjustments not only enabled us to readily remove and replace individual gripper finffers, but to male adjustments to correct for wrong angularity, and to change the setting of a finger for the handling of different sized olives, thus eliminating the former necessity of replacing the gripper lingers for such purpose. Nevertheless a resetting of all fingers on the drum of the olive pitting machine became necessary each time olives of a different grade size were to be processed. This resetting was required in addition to the necessity of retiming the machine. The latter, however, can be accomplished by adjusting the pinion gear which drives the drum.

l have now discovered that by employing a gripper finger of a suitable length and configuration and mounting it at a different angle with respect to certain of its associated mechanism than was heretofore thought feasible or even conceived of, and with a different cooperative positioning with respect to the spacer fingers, l have been enabled to produce a device which will handle olives of various grade sizes without any change or adjustment of the gripper fingers themselves after they are once correctly set.

lt is therefore a broad object of the present invention to provide a universal type of gripper finger assembly including a gripper finger and a cooperating spacer finger as elements or a subcombination in a fruit pitting machine an example of which here chosen is an olive pitting machine, wherein olives or various grade sizes may be run through the machine satisfactorily without substitution of, or adjustment of, the gripper fingers in their individual mountings.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a universal gripper finger assembly of the character identified wherein the angular relationship of the gripper finger at the point or" impact with an olive to the spacer lingers of the machine renders the olive gripping assembly useful with olives of various grade diameters without shorteninfr or lengthening or otherwise individually adjusting the gripper fingers.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become further apparent from an examination of the drawings and a consideration of the description which follows.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of a portion of an olive pitting machine incorporating the present invention there- FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation showing the improved gripper finger and spacer finger assembly operating on a relatively large olive.

FEGURE 3 is a View similar to FGURE 2 showing the fingers operating on a relatively small olive.

FGURE 4 is a section taken on the line 4 4 of FlG- URE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 5 5 of FIGURE 3 illustrating a means for mounting a gripper finger on a rocker arm. rhis figure is borrowed from FIGURE. 5 of Patent 2,826,291 and is a convenient mounting arrangement, although not essential to the present invention.

FGURE 6 is a view generally similar to FlGURF. l taken on a different vertical plane to illustrate the drive for the drum and timing means in connection with the latter.

FGURE 7 is a section taken on line 7-7 of FIG- URE 6.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the timing means and taken on line fl-3 of FIGURE 7.

FlGURE 9 is a section taken on line 9 9 of FlG- URE 8.

FIGURE l0 is a section taken on line lil-lll of' FIGURE 8.

ln the fruit pitting machine described in the patents to which reference has been made, fruit such as olives, is fed continuously from a hopper (not here shown) to an olive aligning chute means indicated at 2li. Spacer or gripper fingers 2l are secured to links of an endless chain 22 in spaced relationship, as for example every alternate link, and initially served to space the individual olives 23 as they roll or slide downward in the chute toward a revolving drum 24.

The spacer fingers 2l, however, differ in configuration and point of mounting over the previous disclosures. ln Patent 2,826,291 the spacer ngers are formed with a short shank portion positioned generally on the radius of the d-rum and are provided with an obtuse bend whereby the olives are gripped by spacer `fingers the Shanks of which extend along the same general radial plane as the stem of the spacer linger. In the present construction the spacer fingers 2l are formed with a generally flat mounting section 25 from which is projected at an acute angle a preferably straight fiat olive contacting shank. AIn both cases, however, the Shanks project into the chute at an acute angle to the bottom thereof viewed upwardly of the lingers. Experience has demonstrated this to be necessary for reliability in assuring that the olives rolling down the 3 chute properly assume and retain a position with their long axes crosswise of the chute as the olives approach drum 2451. lt is this acute but necessary angle of the spacer nger shanks which has presented problems in connection with the gripper ngers which cooperate therewith.

A slot 3Q cut through the bottom of the chute Ztl for a distance near its lower end is sufficiently narrow to not disturb the position or movement oi the olives 23 but wide enough to permit each of a plurality of narrow elongated gripper lingers 3l to enter behind each of the spaced aligned olives and close in upon the same to grip the olive between a gripper linger 3l and a spacer linger 2l as shown.

The chute may be assembled into the machine in any desirable manner, the mounting device illustrated in the drawing being taken from my copending application Serial No. 201,868, tiled lune 8, i962.

rl`he chain is `driven in the direction of the arrow A, and the drum is rotated in the direction of the arrow AA by any suitable prime mover such as an electric motor M (FlGUllS 6 and 7).

The gripper lingers 3l are mounted on the drum 24 :and travel with it, their retracted and olive engaging positions respectively being controlled by a cam race 3'5 which is non-rotatably mounted within the drum 2d in a manner taught by United States Patent No. 2,816,587, granted December 17, 1957, on an application by myself jointly with Bentley l. M- vn, or in any other suitable manner.

A roller or cam follower (see FIGURE 4) is mounted on a stub shaft l37 at the end of a crank arm 3S, the latter being keyed to a rocker arm 39 which is journaled in a bearing lil in the lange of the drum 24. This rocker arm 3% carries at its outer end a gripper nger holder di. This holder may be xed in a selected rotational disposition on rocker arm 3: by loosening and tightening a set screw or sets `screws 42. The finger may be clamped in a slot s3 in the holder by means of a plate and a cap screw 45.

A coil spring ed has one end anchored in the linger holder il and its opposite end anchored in the wall of the drum llange. The function of the spring is to bias the gripper fingers in a direction to yieldably urge the roller 35 toward the carn race 35, which is also toward olive gripping position when the cycle reaches the olive gripping station.

As the drum 24 rotates, carrying with it the gripper lingers El., the rollers 36 on the crank arms 33 follow the cam race 35, and thus the gripA er lingers 3l are held against the action of the springs de in a retracted inactive position until reaching the slot 3d in the chute 2li, at which point the cam race 35 recedes abruptly and thus permits each spring de to urge a gripper linger 3l for-l ward against an olive 23 which is following one of the spacer fingers 2l.

The endless chain 22 follows for a distance the contour of the drum 2@ which forms part of the punch and die mechanism and is supported on a peripheral track 47 formed on the end of the drum. Fragmentary views of a punch tip and a die member are indicated at 50 and 5l respectively (see FlGURE 4).

The gripper linger 3l and its complementary spacer finger 2l while gripping an olive Z3 between them travel together in this relationship in a circular path with rotating drum 24 approximately to the position where the olive is seized by the punch and the die 5T; whereupon the spacer linger travels on and the gripper finger is retracted by the `action of roller 36 in the cam race 35, the latter positioning eing shown on the right hand side of El-GURE 1.

The spacer lingers 2l may be made ol metal or other l stili material, preferably having slight, if any, y. The gripper fingers on the other hand may be made of metal or other suitable material so that they are sullciently stili to perform the function of firmly pressing the olives against the spacer.llngers, but these gripper CII lingers may possess a greater degree of resiliency than the spacer lingers, so that a relatively gentle and yieldable impact occurs against the olives, the resiliency of 4the gripper lingers if present serving to augment the yielding action of the coil spring 4e and aiding in accomplishing utility of the assembly in handling olives of greater or lesser lateral diameter.

rhe crux of the invention resides primarily in the shape and length et the gripper lingers and their rock shaft positioning on the drum. ri`he functional objective is to assure that each olive is held so that its longitudinal axis a rotary path of travel coinciding with the center line of the rotary path of travel 52 of the punches and dies (FIGURE 2).

The fingers are each formed preferably with a straight shank S5 and a V shaped terminal gripping end Se preferably forming with a projection of the plane of the shank a generally equilateral triangle. Furthermore, the mounted relationship of the gripper lingers and spacer lingers when in olive gripping position provides fortbe- Shanks of the two lingers to be generally parallel when they are h lding a medium size olive, which is the index ordinarily used lor setting the gripper lingers. With a smaller olive the gripper lingers will shift into a slight convergence with the spacer ngers toward the periphery of the drum, and when spaced by a relatively large olive will diverge slightly toward the periphery of the drum. T his relationship results inl a three point contact with each olive as clearly shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 irrespective of the size olives in process, and also results in each olive being positioned and carried in a circular path with its longitudinal axis in the circular path 52. of the punches and dies.

Line 53 in FGURES 2 and 3 represents the arcuate center of the gripping force delivered by. the gripping lingers, and is on a radius struck from the axis of the rocker shaft 39. This line 53 always intersects the longitudinal axis of the olives coincident with the intersection ofthe punch and die path 52.

With the configuration of cam race illustrated, and its general diameter with respect to the diameter of the circular path of thek dies and punches l have found that for maximum elliciency the angle between the plane of the shank 55 of the olive gripper linger and a line projected from the axis of the linger holder All to the axis of the cam follower 36 should be approximately 36. This results, when they gripper lingers are in olive engaging position, in the-plane of the olive gripper linger Shanks lying at an obtuse angle to a line drawn from the axis of the finger holder 4l to the axis et? of the drum. When taking the parts in their general dimensions and relationships as illustrated, the angle of a gripper linger in olive engaging position is approximately from a line drawn from the axis et) of the drum to the axis of the gripper head. This is in contrast to the disposition of the olive gripper lingers in Patent 2,826,291 in which the shanks of the gripper lingers when in olive engaging position define almoet a straight line through the axis of the linger holder to the axis of the drum. While we did recognize that these lingers in the said patent could be angularly adjusted, they were not of suhlcient length to be installed in the relationship which has been described the present invention, and the advantage of relocating the bases of the gripper lingers as herein disclosed was not realized.

Once the olive gripper lingers are installed by the use eit er of a lixed mounting, or are adjusted to the correct angle in an adjustable mounting slot of the type illustrated in FlGURE 5, and are so mounted with a correct length of linger reaching outwardly from the linger holder that a three point engagement of a medium size olive is achieved with its long axis coincident with the intersection of lines 52 and S3, no further adjustment is required, and the gripper lingers and the spacer lingers will cooperate by an automatic action of the gripper linger provided by the s ring le and any resiliency of the gripi? per finger to properly seize, hold and move olives of different grade sizes into accurate longitudinally axial alignment with the dies and punches.

In order to obtain full efficiency, it is necessary to retime the movement between the drum and the chain which carries the spacer fingers when changing from olives of one size to olives of a materially different size so that the distance between a spacer finger and the correct axial location of the olive when seized by a gripper finger is maintained. This is conveniently accomplished by means shown in FTGURES 6-10.

The motor M drives shaft 61 through a belt 62, and a pulley 63 which is keyed to the shaft 61. This shaft drives the chain 22 through a sprocket 64. The same shaft 6l drives the drum 2b through a spur gear d5 which meshes with a ring gear 66 on the drum. The position along the chute of a chain carried spacer finger 21 when a cooperating drum carried gripper finger 3l. has advanced into olive gripping position is dependent upon the rotary position of the drum in respect to the travel position of the chain. This relationship is adjusted by the setting of the spur gear 65 on the shaft 61.

As best seen in FIGURES 8-10, the gear is mounted on the shaft through the medium of a plate 7% which is keyed to the shaft by a key 7l retained by a set screw 72 in a hub of the plate. The plate is adjustably secured to the gear by machine bolts '73 extending through slots 74. A pair of set screws 75 abut oppositely against a lug 7S formed with a cylindrical shank '76 which fits in a bore 77 in the gear. When the bolts 73 are loosened, the gear may be slightly rotated one way or the other by the set screws 75, and the bolts are then tightened to secure the plate and gear in that position.

Assuming a mean adjustment for medium olives, the spacer fingers should be advanced relative to the gripper fingers for large olives, and retarded for small olives. This is on the basis that with a predetermined axial position of the olives, the nearest surface of the spacer fingers must be half an olive diameter away.

While I have herein shown and described the invention in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as t embrace any and all equivalent devices.

What l claim is:

l. in a machine for processing rollable articles of different diameters wherein said articles are individually seized from a delivery chute and carried in a circular path concentric with the perimeter of a rotating circular drum, the impovernent which comprises a universal gripper mechanism including an endless chain traveling in proximity to the chute and in proximity to the periphery of the drum, spacer fingers mounted on the chain and extending into the circular path of travel of the articles, gripper fingers rockably mounted on the drum and spring biased in a direction whereby each gripper finger is urged toward a complementary spacer finger for yieldably securing an article therebetween, each of said gripper fingers including a generally straight shank portion and a generally V shaped terminal gripping portion the latter defining with a projection of the plane of the shank portion a triangle, and the plane of the shank portion defining a generally obtuse angle to a line drawn from the axis of the rockable mounting of the gripper finger to the axis of the drum when the gripper finger is in article seizure position.

2. A device of the character defined in claim 1 wherein the delivery chute is inclined and the spacer fingers include shanks extending into the chute at an acute angle thereto, and the shank portions of the gripper fingers are approximately parallel to the Shanks of the spacer fingers when in article seizure position as to a given article, such parallelism deviating slightly one way or the other when t5 operating upon articles having greater or less diameter than said given article.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein a cam race is disposed in operative relationship to the drum, and the gripper fingers embody a cam following means whereby the gripper fingers are held in retracted inoperative position during a portion of their circuitous travel with the drum and are treed by the cam race to be urged by the springs into an operative position at a point in the circular path of travel at the delivery end of the chute.

4. ln an olive pitting machine for pitting olives of different diameters and comprising an inclined chute, a chain traveling parallel to and in proximity to the chute, spacer ngers mounted on the chain and having a generally fiat shank extending into the chute for retarding olives rolling down the chute, a rotary drum carrying dies and punches, the lower end of the chute terminating in general proximity to a peripheral region of the drum, the improvement which comprises gripper ngers pivotally mounted on the drum, said gripper fingers comprising a generally flat shank portion and an olive contacting portion generally offset from said shank portion, means biasing the gripper fingers in a direction whereby each gripper finger is urged toward a complementary spacer finger for seizing an olive therebetween which has been trailing the spacer finger in the chute, the plane of the spacer finger shank being generally parallel to the plane of the gripper finger shank portion when the gripper fingers are disposed in olive gripping position, said complementary fingers presenting a generally three point peripheral er1- gagement with an olive irrespective of variation in the diameters ofthe olives.

5. A device as defined in claim 4 in which the plane of the gripper finger shank portion defines a generally obtuse angle to a line projected from the pivotal axis of the gripper finger mounting on the drum to the axis of the drum when the gripper finger is in olive gripping position.

6. in a machine for processing rollable articles of difierent diameters wherein said articles are individually seized from a delivery chute and carried in a circular path concentric with the perimeter of a rotating circular drum, the improvement which comprises a universal gripper mechanism including an endless chain traveling in proximity to the chute and in proximity to the periphery of the drum, spacer fingers mounted on the chain and extending into the circular path of travel of the articles, gripper lingers rockably mounted on the drum and spring biased in a direction whereby each gripper finger is urged toward a complementary spacer finger for yieldably securing an article therebetween, each of said gripper fingers including a generally straight shank portion and a generally V shaped terminal gripping portion, the plane of the shank portion defining a generally obtuse angle to a line drawn from the axis of the rockable mounting of the gripper finger to the axis of the drum when the gripper finger is in article securing position.

7. In an olive pitting machine for pitting olives of different diameters and comprising an inclined chute, a chain traveling parallel to and in proximity to the chute, spacer lingers mounted on the chain and extending into the chute for retarding olives rolling down the chute, a rotary drum carrying ies and punches, the lower end of the chute terminating in general proximity to a peripheral region of the drum, the improvement which comprises gripper fingers pivotally mounted on the drum, means biasing the gripper fingers in a direction whereby each gripper finger is urged toward a complementary spacer finger for seizing an olive therebetween which has been trailing the spacer finger in the chute, the spacer fingers being formed with straight Shanks which extend into the chute at an acute angle on the olive trailing side, and the gripper fingers embodying straight shank portions which are generally parallel to the Shanks of the spacer lingers when a complementary spacer finger and gripper finger are positioned in olive gripping relationship, and the gripper lnger embodies a generally V shaped terininai end, said Cormiernentary fingers presenting a generally three point per,A herai engagement with an olive irrespective of variation in the diameters of the olives.

8. In an olive pitting machine for pitting olives of diifen ent diameters and comprising an inclined chute, a chain traveling parallel to and in proximity to the chute, spacer fingers mounted on the chain and extending into the chute for retarding olives rolling down t'ne chute, a rotary drum carrying dies and punches, the lower end of the chute terminating in general proximity to a peripheral region of the drum, the improvement which comprises gripper lingers pivotally mounted on the drum, means 'biasing the gripper fingers in a direction whereby each gripper finger is urged toward a complementary spacer finger for seizing an olive t; erebetween which has been trailing the spacer nger in the Chute, said complementary iingers presenting a generally three point peripheral engags-:nient with an olive irrespective of Variation in the diameters of the olives, each spacer nger embodying a fiat piane surface presenting one olive engagement point, and each gripper ringer including a iat plane shank which terminates in a lattened V section which present the other two olive engagement points, the V section embodying legs of generally equal length having their spaced apart ends disposed approximately in the plane of the gripper nger shank.

Referente-es Cited in the le of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS 2,826,291 Kagiey Mar. 11, 1958 

1. IN A MACHINE FOR PROCESSING ROLLABLE ARTICLES OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS WHEREIN SAID ARTICLES ARE INDIVIDUALLY SEIZED FROM A DELIVERY CHUTE AND CARRIED IN A CIRCULAR PATH CONCENTRIC WITH THE PERIMETER OF A ROTATING CIRCULAR DRUM, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A UNIVERSAL GRIPPER MECHANISM INCLUDING AN ENDLESS CHAIN TRAVELING IN PROXIMITY TO THE CHUTE AND IN PROXIMITY TO THE PERIPHERY OF THE DRUM, SPACER FINGERS MOUNTED ON THE CHAIN AND EXTENDING INTO THE CIRCULAR PATH OF TRAVEL OF THE ARTICLES, GRIPPER FINGERS ROCKABLY MOUNTED ON THE DRUM AND SPRING BIASED IN A DIRECTION WHEREBY EACH GRIPPER FINGER IS URGED TOWARD A COMPLEMENTARY SPACER FINGER FOR YIELDABLY SECURING AN ARTICLE THEREBETWEEN, EACH OF SAID GRIPPER FINGERS INCLUDING A GENERALLY STRAIGHT SHANK PORTION AND A GENERALLY V SHAPED TERMINAL GRIPPING PORTION THE LATTER DEFINING WITH A PROJECTION OF THE PLANE OF THE SHANK PORTION A TRIANGLE, AND THE PLANE OF THE SHANK PORTION DEFINING A GENERALLY OBTUSE ANGLE TO A LINE DRAWN FROM THE AXIS OF THE ROCKABLE MOUNTING OF THE GRIPPER FINGER TO THE AXIS OF THE DRUM WHEN THE GRIPPER FINGER IS IN ARTICLE SEIZURE POSITION. 